The UFC 147 event that’s set for Saturday night in Brazil will feature a heavyweight matchup between top ten heavyweight Fabricio Werdum and the always tough Mike Russow. It should be a good fight as Werdum has won four of his last five since losing to the then unknown and now current UFC Heavyweight Champ Junior dos Santos. Russow hasn’t lost since 2007 which is the only defeat of his career. Let’s see how this one breaks down.

Fabricio Werdum (15-5-1) comes into this fight off of a one sided beatdown of Roy Nelson. Normally when you hear the word ‘beatdown’, it means that somebody lost via TKO/KO. Put it this way, had it been anyone else they would have been finished but Nelson arguably has one of the best chins in the game. Werdum’s only loss outside his last UFC stint was against former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem during the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP. The world class submission ace has won eight fights via submission and four via TKO/KO. His striking has improved leaps and bounds over the past three or four years with a deadly muay thai attack. He’s difficult to finish as his only TKO/KO loss was against the aforementioned Junior dos Santos.

Mike Russow (15-1, 1NC) comes into this fight off the unanimous decision win over John Olav-Einemo in January of this year. Russow is a former division one wrestler, is durable, and is fairly well rounded for a guy that works full time as a police officer in Chicago. Russow has eight wins via submission and four wins via TKO/KO as well. He was finished in his lone defeat via submission against MMA veteran Sergei Kharitonov.

This should be a decent fight with Werdum has the height and reach advantage. He’ll also have the advantage on the ground should the fight go there. The only advantage that Russow will possibly have is his sheer will to win. He’ll need to just turn this fight into a brawl, otherwise, he’ll be picked apart with leg kicks and front kicks from Werdum. In the clinch he’ll need to be weary of the thai plum that Werdum likes to use as he sends knees to the head and midsection. Russow could steal this fight if he fights the perfect gameplan. Which consists of turning the fight into a brawl and taking Werdum down late in each round while not allowing Werdum enough time to work his submission game.

Werdum on the other hands need to use his height and reach advantage to pick Russow apart. Russow doesn’t do a good job of avoiding damage, so Werdum should be able to tee off here. Werdum trains full time with a reputable camp while Russow trains full time when he isn’t a full time job. I salute Russow for putting in the work to get this far, but these are the type of fights where differences like this show their head.

Werdum wins this via decision as Russow begins to fade about halfway through the fight.